As a certified social media strategist and Pinterest Consultant I’m always trying to find ways to work as efficient as possible so that I have the freedom to enjoy other parts of my life! My motto is “work hard, play hard”.

I love helping businesses make the most of their Pinterest marketing strategies and I find that most people overlook the use of their secret boards to help them manage their time.

One of the reasons I love what I do is that I can work in the comfort of my home and still travel because my work is virtual. So if I need to collaborate with a potential client I can use a secret board as one of the tools.

I don’t have to get dressed, commute, deal with the hassle of parking my SUV all of which takes time – I can do many of these activities in my home office (or in a hotel) by using a Pinterest secret board.

So what are secret boards?

Secret boards are boards not made public…yet. Hidden boards.

Businesses on Pinterest can leverage this private space for different things and the possibilities are endless – here are seven ways bloggers and business owners can use this powerful tool:

1. Boards that are a work in progress: I recommend that you have a minimum of five boards with at least five images on your boards before you make your profile page public. This is particularly important if you’re a business.

Here’s the thing – when you’re trying to build up your own list of followers one of the tactics you can use to do this is to follower other pinners. However you really need to think strategically and a plan as to who exactly you should be following….your target audience right?

When you follow pinners they will receive an email from Pinterest notifying them that you have followed them. If that pinner decides to have a look at your Pinterest page and finds several empty boards like the one you see below… do you really think that will entice them to follow you? C’mon really folks. Leaving your boards incomplete will tarnish your image and will create a negative first impression. You’ll get fewer followers.

This is the reason why you need to use secret boards as your “prepping” station. Only show boards that are complete and fully optimized so you get found & followed on Pinterest.

The image below says it all – this is a big NO NO!

2. Curate Content: This is a great tool for bloggers to use as a storage space to collect ideas for their future blogs and other projects. When I come across several Pinterest case studies and news stories I store them on one of my secret boards for future content. Pin a collection of; links, articles, images and visual notes for your future blogs. You can also test what your work will look like before you make it live.

3. Product Launch Planning: You can also invite as many pinners as you want to contribute on your secret board.

Before releasing your product to the public you can canvass ideas from your staff and best customers to get feedback. This will help you save money trying to figure out how much and what kind of product inventory to carry. This is smart business because you don’t want to buy too much or the wrong kind of product inventory and only to have to sell them at fifty percent off someday!

4. Consumer Insights: Conduct research to find out what your customers and potential clients are pinning. What content are they repinning from your competition? Pin the highest repins that your competition’s pins are receiving. This will tell you so much about what your target audience values and wants. I’m not suggesting you copy your competition as each business is unique in their own way. However, using a secret board like this gives you insight to what your competition is doing right and wrong.

5. Collaboration:

a. If you’re working on a workshop or a training program you can invite members of your team to contribute ideas on your secret board much like a brainstorming session but on Pinterest!

b. Planning a trade show or conference. Pin everything from ideas for the decor of your booth, giveaways, and handouts

c. Share content with clients. For example, if you’re an interior decorator you would ask your client to pin images on the secret board to show case ideas about their style preferences.

Wedding photographers can ask their clients to pin images of their favorite locations for their pre and post wedding photos.

6. VIP Membership

Offer your best customers and brand advocates perks that other do not receive. You can create a VIP MEMBERSHIP secret board and pin; special offers, discounts, sneak previews and so forth.

Make it clear that new offers will be added on a specific day of the month. This not only makes them special but it encourages them to visit your Pinterest page. This is important because you want to stay top of mind with your customers. Plus it and increases your chance of getting more repins because they regularly visit your VIP MEMBERSHIP secret board.

7. Your Own Secrets

Many bloggers and businesses combine some of their own personal interests on their Pinterest page but I’m sure that there is other content that may be confidential.

For example, if you are planning a surprise party for one of your employees it’s really hard to keep it hush hush when there is no privacy in your workplace.

Most of you have experienced this right? Why take a chance at blowing the surprise because you failed to use your secret board? Do the sharing on your secret boards instead of whispering down the hallways and eventually blowing the secret.

Additional Tips:

1. You can create as many secret boards as you wish.

2. Private boards can be switched from “off” to “on” one time before it becomes permanent.

3. You can’t make existing boards’ secret boards. That’s why you have to go through the steps I suggested above.

What do you think?

Will you use the new “secret boards” feature? Can you think of anymore ways to use a secret boards for your business? Let us know in the comments below.

I think we’re on the same boat. It could be used for competitor research, you could basically pinned every content get ideas from them. This will allow you to compare your products and services from them. Thanks for sharing some great strategy here.

Thanks so much! I’m excited to have just found your blog and to continue reading! I also wrote you an email about your 30 minute free consult/coaching sessions. Thanks for everything you do – your site is incredible!